Monday, June 8, 2015

Currently

Becky at Choose Happy has been running a fun link up party called Currently. I am going to start joining Becky for her Currently link up series once a month. I thought it would be a fun way to update y'all on my life in a light and fluffy way through photos and a blurb of text. ReadingI'm currently reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, which several of my friends had rated highly on Goodreads. I am halfway through this book and I am really curious how it will end. It is about Rachel, a recently divorced (husband had an affair) alcoholic who takes the train everyday to and from a job that she tells her roommate she is still working at. While on the train, she passes by house with a deck and she sees a couple having breakfast out front each and every morning. She gives the couple imaginary names and starts to really wonder what they do for a living, what sort of marriage they have, etc. This home she passes by on the train is also on the same street as the home her ex-husband and his new wife and baby live on... her OLD home. Of course, someone goes up missing and Rachel is thick in the middle of it... that is about all I'll share. It is a really good read so far.I'm already starting to think about what I'll read next... I'm thinking it will be The Fringe Hours: Making Time For You by a fellow blogger named Jessica Turner. I don't read her blog, but I keep seeing other people review this book and I'm really interested in it. I haven't read a good self help book in awhile, so I thought this would be a good one.Excited About...DISNEY!! We are going to Disney THIS month... and, I really need to start planning some things out for our trip. I really want to figure out my outfits and also what the kids are going to wear, because that is just something I really enjoy doing for each trip we go on. Picking out outfits is my vacation planning jam... or oil? Here is a post I did on the outfits Autumn wore 2 years ago on our Disney trip (HERE) and my outfits (HERE). I didn't do a post on what Nathan was wearing, because it is usually tees and sports shorts. Boys are so exciting! lol! ;)I also want to go shopping to buy some drinks (juice boxes, etc.), small cereal boxes, snacks, etc. to ship in a large flat rate box to our hotel. We did this last time and it SAVED us tons of money! The kids always wake up hungry or want a snack every so often at the park and we had it all shipped to our hotel. Since we are flying, it is just easier to ship it! I am also thinking about doing Disney mail again, where the kids each get a little wrapped gift each night (or morning) we are there. I did this last year and it was a HUGE hit. I got all of Autumn's stuff bought (Frozen and princess stuff from Target's $1 spot). I am getting Nathan a Star Wars lanyard, some trading pins (including an Expedition Everest pin, from his favorite ride!) and a pressed penny collectors book. We haven't traded the collectors pins there yet and I think Nathan (and possibly Autumn) are at great ages for it this year!Then, I also want to do a Disney count down chain (see ours from 2 years ago HERE), which we did 2 years ago, too. SO, hopefully I get on this stuff pronto, because waiting till the last minute is not the way to go!Dedicated...

So, we have started Mommy School over at our neck of the woods. My main goal with Autumn is to get her used to writing lowercase letters, memorizing spelling words (we are doing 8 first grade level words each week), memorizing a bible verse every there week and I want to do some math sheets with her.With Nathan I am reviewing his multiplication cards, so that he doesn't 'forget' them over the summer. I also want to do a little cursive writing over the summer, so he doesn't forget that either. I also got him a 4th grade book with lessons and I want to start some of the more advanced math sheets. I also got him some division flash cards and hope to have them all memorized by the end of summer. For fun, we are going to do one of Nathan's chemistry experiments (he got a box from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tracy for his birthday) each week and Autumn really wants to do crafts for school... so, we'll do one SIMPLE craft each week. We did one of Nathan's chemistry experiments this week and you'll see two photos above of it. We made enlarged jiggly crystals! You'll see how they are really small in the test tube and we added water and they enlarged quite a bit and even bounced a bit (Autumn figured that one out!).I know this sounds like a lot, but I am only devoting 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon, two days a week (and they won't be two days in a row) to Mommy School. We also read at night before bed for the Library Reading Program. My main goal is to keep what they've learned fresh in their minds and to work on a few things they will learn next year ahead of time. I think this will make my life A LOT easier once they both go back to school. And, since this will be Autumns first year doing spelling and memory each week, I want her to get into a good rhythm before school starts. Nathan is AWESOME at spelling and memory, so I'm not worried and I won't be working with him on it during the summer. He's got it down. :) Autumn got all of her words right on her spelling test this week, but I had to have her rewrite a couple of letters so that they were lowercase (as in below the middle line) and she sometimes writes the first letter backwards and I have her fix those. I kept her first spelling test sheet of the summer and I am going to compare it to the last spelling test sheet of the summer to see how she improves on neatness and writing lowercase letters correctly. :)Learning...About butterflies, ladybugs, snails, tortoises... you name it, we got it at our house or grandmas house. It all started when Autumn found a caterpillar in the Lowes parking lot and had to bring it home. It turned into a chrysalis and we've been waiting ever since for it to emerge. Then, she insisted we buy a butterfly house for it... well, the butterfly house came with 5 caterpillars and those are already butterflies and we will be releasing them soon. While looking for a butterfly house on Amazon we also saw a ladybug house... yes, we landed up with PINK lady bugs and it was such a neat experience seeing them grow and we had fun releasing them. I just worry about or ladybugs from time to time and wonder how they are doing. After that, Autumn brought home a garden snail from her dads that she found near a puddle. I did not want this snail, but then I sort of became attached to it... especially after I found out how much it loves to munch on fresh strawberries. Agh... so, we actually have two snails now (Joey and Joey) in a 5 gallon tank and they are quite pampered... as far as garden snails go. OH and then there is that tortoise thing... yeah, the kids (ok, Nathan) begged Grandma for a pet over the summer. They go to her house one day during the summer so I can get caught up on the stuff around the house. Well, the last time they were over there Grandma got Nathan a Russian tortoise. Unlike our snails with the 5 gallon take, this boy has a 50 gallon tank! And... he lives for 50 years... I'm not sure I like the thought of our pets outliving me now! Does that mean I'm getting old? And, will Nathan be passing this tortoise down to his kids some day? I'm not even going to think about it.Summer Work OutMost of you know that I am a runner, but I usually lift arm weights a couple times of a week, too. At my last doctors appointment, my doctor told me that I need to work my 'core' more and after taking several classes with ClassPass earlier this year, I realized that my legs are probably the only fit part on my bod... and, I am not OK with that.My friend Cacey is also a runner (and, super fast might I add... as in she wins every race she runs) was talking to me about my workouts. She is very organized (aren't most home school teachers?) and gave me her workout schedule and some spreadsheets to go with them. Here is a simple run down that she gave me (this is all in her words, not mine):

Monday: Little bit of everything. For example I'll pick 3-4 exercises of arms, legs and abs and do two sets of each. Repeat four times, with a different group exercises every time. In between groups I do cardio intervals, jumping jacks, jumprope, ect. It takes about an hour. If that doesn't make sense, for my first group of exercises I do squats, squat press, push-ups, flies and then some various ab stuff. Repeat.

Tuesday: Speed run. 400s on the treadmill or track. Basically, slow lap, fast lap, for about three miles. On the treadmill, .25 slow, .25 fast. I try to increase my speed every interval. Weights: arms and abs, about 30 minutes

Wednesday: Little bit of everything, just like Monday

Thursday: Tempo run, four miles. Weights: legs and booty

Friday: Little bit of everything (sometimes an extra rest day!)

Saturday: Long run. Between 6-8 miles since I'm not training. I usually shoot for negative splits, but doesn't always happen. This is also my hilly run of the week.

Sunday: REST!!

Anyway, I am going to give her workout a try this summer! I am really excited to mix things up a little! YAY! Plus, this will be good for my ENTIRE body AND I'll still be running. I may need to up the mileage on her runs, because I usually do 17 miles a week... not sure how I will tweak it yet, though. Cacey, you're the best!

Well, that is all I have today. Be sure to join Becky in this link up series sometime, it is a lot of fun!